By a 76-22 vote the House approved Senate Bill 6696. The measure had previously passed the upper chamber. The different versions of the bill must now be reconciled.

It incorporates proposals by Gov. Chris Gregoire, including a new school accountability plan from the State Board of Education; the first state evaluation criteria for principals, who have been evaluated under general administrative guidelines; alternative new ways to become a teacher; and plans to pay teachers more for innovation, improving achievement gaps or developing a program that focuses on science and technology.

By making these changes Washington hopes to compete for “Race to the Top “dollars. The federal reform initiative promises to distribute $4.3 billion to states that embrace school reform, but only a fraction of the states that apply will get any of this money. The state’s application for Race to the Top is due in June.

On Thursday, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced the 15 state’s that may receive millions of dollars in federal money in the first round of funding. Duncan said states would have to leap a “high bar” to get the cash.

Some in Washington feel, even with passage of SB 6696, the Evergreen State will fall short.

“I think, if anything, there is a general consensus that we’ll be running in the middle of the pack,” Rep. Dave Quall, D-Mount Vernon and chairman of the House Education Committee, told seattlepi.com on Thursday. “Looking at the next round I think that we don’t look good.”

The current proposal before lawmakers leaves out key policies Duncan and Obama want lawmakers to enact as a prerequisite for future selection to Race To the Top. But many of those are non-starters in Washington where the state teachers union, a key Democratic ally has long opposed many reform efforts. To get the unions on board with reform efforts Gregoire had to strike a compromise.

Charter schools, for example, have been rejected by voters three times at the polls, and merit pay is a no-go with the unions.

Of the 41 states who applied for the first round of Race To the Top grant money, only 15 were chosen as finalists, and of those 15 finalists, Duncan said the number of states that will actually be awarded money will be a single digit number.

Washington was not in the running because education leaders did not apply for the first round of funding, which will begin to be distributed to recession-worn schools early next year. Their concern was that the state was so far out of consideration that lawmakers needed to enact reforms before even applying.